Volvo 1994 460 Distributor Cap/Rotor arm

[maxey]

Hello and happy Christmas,any tips how to get a stubbern Rotor arm out, should it just pull out, or is it fixed at some point. thanks.

[dcw]

Originally Posted by maxey

Hello and happy Christmas,any tips how to get a stubbern Rotor arm out, should it just pull out, or is it fixed at some point. thanks.

Happy Christmas and New Year to you Maxey.

The rotor arm is just a push fit, but it can get stuck in place. If you have a large pair of pliers grip the end with those and wiggle a little - there is a lug that stops the rotor arm turning very far against the end of the camshaft, but usually there is a tiny bit of movement.

Failing that, pull the back shield as far forward up the rotor as it will go and try to - very gently! - lever against the back edge of the rotor face and the top of the engine. Be careful though not to damage the engine metal.

If that won't work, push the back shield back to it's original position the take a small hacksaw and carefully cut at a diagonal across the shank of the rotor arm. Again, make sure you don't cut into the cam-shaft end it is pushed onto! 2 or 3 such diagonal cuts should destroy enough of the rotor arm to free it. Obviously if you're looking to change the rotor arm destroying the old one doesn't matter - but it is vital to avoid damage to anything else there!

Hope that helps!

David

[maxey]

Hello David, many thanks for your last reply and a Happy New Year to you, what I forgot to mention is that I am fitting a new Distributor Cap also, would you advice to apply Dielectric Grease to the spark plug wires which connect to the Distributor Cap. Regarding Rotor Arm, I did see somewhere which said, when fitting a new one you can apply (which I can not remember) I presume some sort of grease to prevent it sticking the next time you want to renew it? All the best maxey

[dcw]

Hi Maxey

I have never added anything to the plug leads, just push them on.

I would be concerned about introducing any sort of grease inside the distributor, even under the rotor arm - all I do is make sure the "pole" that the rotor arm fits onto is completely clean before fitting.

Did you get the old one off?

David

[maxey]

Hello David, no could not get it off, I think its a job for my Mechanic. Once again many thanks maxey.

[maxey]

Hello David and thank you for your reply, no I did not get the Rotor Arm off, I think best to leave it to my Mechanic. Regarding dielectric grease it was something I saw on Youtube, where they would put the smallest amount around the inside of the spark plug wire boot to prevent damp getting in, and to protect it from getting brittle, (I think a belt & braces thing) as for the Distributor Cap, I was not going to put anything inside it, but I also saw somebody say, smear the smallest amount of engine oil to the bit of the Rotor Arm that you push into the Distributor (just saying) once again many thanks. maxey.